Filmmaking is so heavy: there are so many people and trucks and teamsters and costume people and hair people and makeup people. I try to make it light and as simple as possible. It's great for actors. It puts the story up front. It's not about shots and dollies and lighting and sets.

Jean-Marc Vallee

When I see great film, I have this feeling of 'Oh, wow! Wasn't that great? Wasn't that good?' I want to do something. I want to scream and go out there and participate and embrace life.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I have two sons, and at 16, they were into Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and a lot of British rock.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I think we give too much importance to artists talking about the art and the film and the books and the plays and the music - it's done; the material is there. But we talk about it because it's part of the game. I'm comfortable with it.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I look back, and I've got a couple of films, and I'm happy.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I'm Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Adrenaline makes me change.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I love to offer a playlist to the world, almost like being a deejay.

Jean-Marc Vallee

It can be a machine. The machine tries to make money and forget about the heart and the art. Hollywood is more about making money.

Jean-Marc Vallee

You've got to trust your instincts, your judgment and trust the storytelling that came before and the quality of the acting with the emotion.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I had written 'Cafe de Flore' with 'Stairway to Heaven' in mind.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I'm such a music geek, a music freak. I wake up in the morning, I press play.

Jean-Marc Vallee

When I do a mix tape for my kids, for my friends, for my lover, I meticulously choose the tracks, and it's beautiful. And when they are alone they think of me - and when I am alone I think of them.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I was born in 1963. So the '70s were my teenage years. As a teenager, I was into rock and roll - Bowie, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, even more progressive music like Genesis, and I was into a lot of British rock and roll. But I loved also American rock and roll. CCR, Jimmie Hendrix, The Doors, Patty Smith, and Bob Dylan.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I'm from the 'less is more' school. I had to be in the 'more is more' zone with 'Dallas Buyers Club', so I was out of my comfort zone, but I had to trust that.

Jean-Marc Vallee

In a career, when you hit 40 and you've done a lot of this and that, you want to try some new things. I feel like that as a director, too, from one film to the other.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I couldn't stand still at a desk for another year. I wanted to go out there and make films.

Jean-Marc Vallee

I'm always aiming for some magic in films if I can find a mystical quality either in a song or in a moment or a character's intention.

Jean-Marc Vallee

Trust the acting.

Jean-Marc Vallee

As a director, try to be humble and not to overdo it, not overcoverage and over-covering the scene.

Jean-Marc Vallee

Just film what's there, trust what came before, one hour before, and make it easy.

Jean-Marc Vallee

There's a way of filming where you can get rid of the vanity and of trying to make something beautiful.

Jean-Marc Vallee